ipl-logo

Ozymandias Death Be Not Proud Analysis

754 Words4 Pages

Death is unknown, death is feared, and death is letting go. Many poets, and many people have attempted to confront death. In Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” the speaker confronts death with a belief that it overpowers the most powerful people. The poem uses imagery to show how power is lost by Ozymandias after death. In John Donne’s “Death be not proud,” religion is used to overpower death. While both poems attempt to confront and control the inevitability of death, the poems differ in their ability to do so. In the poem “Ozymandias” the character of Ozymandias wants to confront and control death, but is ultimately unsuccessful in doing so. Ozymandias was a powerful Egyptian ruler, known as the “King of Kings” (Shelley 10), as it is written on the pedestal of his statue. In an attempt to live on after his death, and in a sense, control death, a sculptor created a “vast” (2) statue in his honour. However, the speaker implies Ozymandias’s power is gone as soon as he dies, for the statue is now “two vast …show more content…

Donne does not want the readers to fear death as it is only a consequence of illness, war, accidents, and suicide. Donne’s speaker states that death does not cause someone to die; rather “poison, war, and sickness” (Donne 10) causes death. The message portrayed in “Death be not Proud” is that physical death is not final, and therefore it is not powerful and should not be feared. This contradicts the implications of death’s power in “Ozymandias.” Instead, Donne personifies death in order to show its lack of power: “Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men” (Donne 9). The speaker is referring to death as slave; he wants death to feel powerless since it does not take over nor decide when somebody dies. The personification of death as a slave clearly establishes the speaker’s power over

Show More
Related
394 Words | 2 Pages

In this excerpt from a lecture she delivered in Boston, Maria W. Stewart uses diction in order to shock her audience and reveal the true cruelties of slavery. When Stewart uses the words “death” and “chains” she appeals to the audience's emotions by creating a mournful tone. This is effective because it helps

Read More
1020 Words | 5 Pages

Francis Nosike 09/24/16 AP Literature Mr. Amoroso Death cannot be explained because it’s not a living entity; it’s the transformation from a physical state to dust. In the novel Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya; Antonio, the protagonist, witnessed three deaths that fostered his religious ambivalence. Therefore, the three deaths formulated a cycle of inquiries that lead to the constant statement, ‘anyone could die.’ No living soul on this plain could ever explain how death operates. The abstract conception of death itself is challenging, but with time, we slowly begin to comprehend the ‘true’ nature of death and what it brings to us.

Read More
1268 Words | 6 Pages

Similarly in Millers context, he was able challenge 1950’s American humanity, by revealing the corruptness of HUAC members like Senator Joseph McCarthy. Adding on to this, Shelly composes a sense of historical irony as during his lifetime, Ozymandias was a feared and respected leader, showcased through the religious allusion, “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings”. However he has become nothing more than a faint memory, a broken statue in the desert “Nothing beside remains. Round the Decay”. As a Romantic poet, Shelley emphasized the incredible

Read More
529 Words | 3 Pages

Humans are a fragile species, and we are capable of dying at any moment regardless if we are ready or not. In Sherman Alexie’s “War Dances”, he illustrates the narrator’s coping with death and compares it to that of those around him. Upon figuring out that his death is no longer a looming threat, the narrator goes back to living life as if nothing happened cementing the idea that the threat of death is ever present but we choose to live as if it is not. Throughout the short story, Alexie utilizes the narrator’s experiences with the deaths of others and with the threat of his own to demonstrate the theme that death is always a possibility and there are many ways of coping with it. The narrator is hopeless about fighting his own death but utilizes humor to cope with the idea of dying.

Read More
112 Words | 1 Pages

In conclution, Alan Seeger and Emily Dickinson, both explain that althrough there were diffrent viewpoints and lifesyles although death is inevitable and unpredictable, death is something to not be feared but calmly accepted and perhaps calmy anticipated. Death is usually viewed as doubtful and people usually never want to accept it but Seeger and Dickinson explain to us how unevitable death is. Both authors further explain that death must not be feared but calmly accepted. In summary, death is a natural occurance that wiil inevitably happen to every living organism on this earth which is why it’s imperitave to humans that death should not be feared becaause we just wait its

Read More
1471 Words | 6 Pages

This parallels the idea of fear being incorporated within a myth by Armstrong. Armstrong suggests that a myth should either depict or show the overcoming of fears commonly held by its intended audience. She specifically mentions the most principle fear held by almost all humans as well as alluding to a wider range of fears by saying, “Mythology was therefore designed to help us to cope with the problematic human predicament” (Armstrong 6). In this quote, Armstrong highlights the need of a myth to help those who know of it cope with the “human predicament”. In this case Armstrong is speaking of death, however, this idea can be applied to any fear held in the hearts of those reading or creating a myth.

Read More
566 Words | 3 Pages

Bryant also explains how death is feared by many but he offers comfort to the people that do fear it. Bryant tells the readers about death in a way no poet has said before. Bryant gradually tells the reader more and more about death in each stanza. In “Thanatopsis,” Bryant uses diction to describe death, details to describe how death takes place, and organization to help show the different levels of how people feel about death.

Read More
758 Words | 4 Pages

John Donne and W;t To dwell upon ones’ notion of death, and morality, is to comprehend ones’ values and thoughts through the context of society… Though different eras both John Donne and Margaret Edson explore similar thematic concepts: The Holy Sonnets and W;t. The presence of death, morality and conspicuous human nature, explores the ethical and moral structure of present society, and broadens our understanding of the ever changing beliefs, values, and contexts of the current audience. Edson had written her play during the mid 1990’s in a time where the secularised society viewed death as less prominent, and the consequential effect on society’s attitude towards death in Donne’s era. Edson’s play essentially transfigures the poems into a

Read More
917 Words | 4 Pages

In "The Death of Ivan Llyich" Ivan has not yet come to terms with his death and fears it. " Ivan Ilyich saw that he was dying, and he was in continual despair", Ivan spends all his time feeling sorry about himself because he is going to die due to his illness instead of choosing to enjoy his final moments of life and be grateful for the life that he got to live. In Donne's poem he explains being at ease with death and has come to terms with it and isn't choosing to sit and mourner about dying but instead coming to a realization that it's bound to happen to everyone so just live life. Donne explains how death relieves our souls and deliveries those from pain. Ivan looks at death as it being mighty and dreadful and allows that to conquer him; but Donne looks at death as a natural thing in life that isn't so mighty and dreadful but yet something that relieves us from pain and is our time to rest.

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

Read More
788 Words | 4 Pages

The term “King of Kings” gives the visualization of a powerful king because it is an allusion to Jesus in the bible as a savior. However, the subsequent stanzas show the opposite. The last stanzas use ironic imagery, but the change of speakers further increases the outright nature of it. Ozymandias’ plaque says, “Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Read More
551 Words | 3 Pages

From the beginning, children are taught to fear the concept of death. Most people spend their lives fearing death, but it’s not death that they are afraid of. It is part of nature to die, and our minds know that, what scares most people is the thought of death before they have had time to accomplish what they want in life. In “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be,” John Keats put into words how people feel about dying before they have been successful in whatever mission they have set forth for themselves. His poem touches the reality of people’s feelings though imagery and figurative language.

Read More
763 Words | 4 Pages

And whether I come to my own to-day, or in ten thousand or ten million years, I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait” (406-411). Whitman brings light to death. He not only encourages those to embrace death, but to not shy away from it. Bringing individuals face-to-face with reality is where Whitman excelled, his writings were vividly personal, and left nothing to the imagination. Whitman truly inspired those of his time period to face life realities as they

Read More
800 Words | 4 Pages

Walt Whitman is one of the leading mystic poets of death in the field of American poetry. Death is assigned a distinguished space in his poetic universe of Leaves of Grasswhich immensely colours his vision of life. This paper is an attempt to present Whitman’s attitude towards death vis-à-vis global mystic perspective. Reality of Death

Read More
560 Words | 3 Pages

Carl Sandburg, a novelist and poet, emphasizes ideas such as love, death, and many other themes in most of his works. He has complied many poems and novels throughout his career and many of his poems have been published in A Magazine of Verse (PBS). Overtime, the American people grew very fond of Sandburg, and he was commemorated as the “Poet of the People” in the United States. In “Cool Tombs”, Sandburg uses rousing diction and imagery to depict death as peaceful and restful, rather than frightening and terminal. Sandburg used stirring diction to convey death as peaceful.

Read More

More about Ozymandias Death Be Not Proud Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document